Announcement of Engagement
by Xaipre
Summary: In Breaking Dawn we saw Edward and Bella announce their engagement to Charlie, but how would the rest of the Cullens respond to the news of their finally official engagement? Marriage, mating, and most of all, love, are the topics of the day. Canon.


**Announcement of Engagement**

In _Breaking Dawn_ we saw Edward and Bella announce their engagement to Charlie, but how would the rest of the Cullens respond to the news of their finally official engagement? Marriage, mating, and most of all, love, are the topics of the day. Slightly fluffy canon missing moment.

This takes place later on the same day after the last chapter in _Eclipse_, after Edward and Bella have announced their engagement to Charlie in the first chapter of _Breaking Dawn_.

Thank you to Openhome for being my beta for this.

* * *

"So Charlie didn't try to kill you," I said, still partly in shock. Charlie's reaction to Edward's announcement that we were getting married had been frightening. I was sure that he was going to have a heart attack. But at least he didn't try to shoot Edward. It would have been hard to explain why Edward didn't die from bullets.

"No." Edward's answer was a pitch higher than normal. He nearly radiated happiness.

Earlier in the day when I had insisted to that I wanted to marry him, Edward had surprised me by pulling the ring out of his pocket. If there was any doubt in my head that Edward wanted to marry me it was now thoroughly erased by the fact that he had carried that ring around with him, ready to slip it back onto my finger at the first possible moment.

Edward's eyes had held mine for a long moment before he took the ring out of the box and took my left hand. He slid the ring onto my finger with a seriousness and deliberation which he did not have on Friday night. He had been happy then, happy to have finally had my consent to put this ring on my finger. But now he had more than my consent. Now he had my commitment. I had chosen him over Jake and all others, and I would announce that decision to the world. This time the ring was staying on my finger. Forever.

I looked at my left hand on the steering wheel. The ring was terribly extravagant, but it was a symbol, a message. This ring, marriage, it was a sign to others. It showed that Edward wanted me to belong to him. It also showed that I belonged to Edward, and no one else. I was ready to say that now.

I looked over at Edward, who was still smiling madly. "And he accepted that we are getting married." That fact still had me dumbfounded.

"Yes. Thank you, Bella, for wanting to marry me."

I giggled. "You're very strange, you know that?"

Edward looked at me in confusion. "Yes, I know that I am very strange, I'm a vampire."

I snorted. "Besides that. You're a very strange boy."

Edward turned so he was facing me. "Am I?"

"You do realize that most boys wouldn't be thanking their girlfriends for refusing them sex?"

Edward cocked his head to the side. "Hmm, I was under the impression that the refusal wasn't permanent."

"Wasn't permanent?" I concentrated hard on keeping my truck safely on the road. "No, not permanent." Definitely not. "Just, uh, delayed."

I heard Edward chuckle beside me. "Good. I realize that I am, as you called it, strange. But your decision to wait, and to have a wedding here with our families, it means a lot to me. So thank you."

"Sure, I just hope it's worth it," I muttered.

"You don't know if I'm worth it?" Edward asked, sounding hurt.

Crap, of course he heard that. "No. Not you, no. But all of this. It wasn't exactly easy for me to stop you in the meadow, I still want– " I broke off as I thought about the way Edward had touched me. The statement of his desire for me. I swallowed hard. "Well, I just hope it's worth it, that's all," I finished.

"Oh, it will be worth it," Edward said with conviction.

"What?" I made the mistake of glancing to the side to look at him. The smile on his face made my hands tremble on the steering wheel.

"Your protection of my virtue. I promise to greatly reward you for that."

I gasped. "You do?"

"Bella, I realize you think that you can't give me anything that matches what I give to you. But the ring, sentimental value aside, really is just a bauble. And a fast car would be," Edward looked out the window disdainfully, "wonderful. Honestly, Bella, deer can run faster than this truck."

"Maybe, but you don't see me entering my truck in a deer race, now do you?"

"No, thank goodness. But Bella, these are just objects. And what you have given me today can't come close to matching them."

I looked at the road. Refusing Edward's offer had been difficult, yes. But it was a simple matter of putting off the inevitable for a few weeks. Unless... "Is this about your soul again?"

"I was under the impression that you thought you had a soul as well."

"Okay, so our souls. I have protected our souls from eternal damnation. Is that my precious gift?"

"The state of the soul is important, Bella."

I looked at Edward's serious expression and had to laugh.

"Clearly, you don't agree," Edward commented mournfully.

"No, I agree. It's just the irony of it. It made me laugh."

"The irony?"

I tried to stifle my laughter. This was obviously an important subject for Edward. I should take it seriously. "I'm the one who insisted that your soul wasn't damned, and now you are the one who is worried about doing something to damn it. If I had known that this is where my arguments would have ended up, I might have kept my mouth shut."

Edward's confused face made my laughter start all over again.

Edward shook his head "You're impossible."

"Sorry."

Edward sighed. "For the record, you'll remember that I kept my virtue even while thinking my soul was damned, so there's nothing ironic about it."

"So you didn't really think your soul was damned?"

"No, I did."

I raised my eyebrows at his use of the past tense. "You did, did you?"

Edward groaned and leaned back in his seat. "Impossible."

"Well, for the record, I appreciate it." The thought of Edward being with one of those blonde beauties in Alaska made me feel almost ill. "Even though it means that we're sitting here, and not still out in the meadow," I paused as I felt my face heat up, "uh, you know."

"True."

I nodded, but then froze in shock. "Wait, you still want to be out in the meadow?"

Edward gave me an amused smile. "Did you not hear how much I desire to be with you? I have mating instincts as much as you do."

I looked at him and blinked in confusion. "Mating instincts?"

Edward nodded. "You, and your hormones, create a mating instinct."

I looked back at the road. Mating instinct?

"The human instinct to mate is strong, perhaps not as strong as some animals, and definitely not as strong as vampires, but more complex in a way," Edward explained slowly beside me. "The evolutionary process behind it, choosing a protector or provider, procreation, creating an emotional bond within the larger society, no one knows for sure, but it is still very much there, even though this modern post-Industrial society tries to ignore it."

I shook my head, trying to process what Edward was saying. "So you think I want to have sex with you because of some human mating instinct?"

"There's nothing wrong with that."

"Yes, there is something wrong with that, Edward. I don't want to have sex with you just because of some instinct."

Or was instinct another term for hormones? I seemed to have plenty of those at the moment.

"It isn't just some instinct, Bella. Your body is telling you to have sex with me, why?"

"Why? I love you. Isn't it obvious?"

"From a biological perspective sex is quite disadvantageous for the human female. It initially causes a great deal of pain, it can lead to any number of diseases and infections, and has a high mortality rate due to death in childbirth, not to mention the stress pregnancy places upon the body." Edward gave me a thoughtful look. "Comparatively, your desire to have sex with a vampire is almost normal. But why would your body desire something so detrimental to its own preservation?"

I stared at the wet road in shock. How had Edward just reduced my romantic notions to bare biological dullness?

"I love you," I repeated. Wasn't that clear?

"Yes, and you have already proven that you will choose that love over your own well-being, for which I am both grateful and terrified. But you don't need to have sex with someone just because you love them. You also love your father, which is a deep non-sexual relationship. So there must be another reason why you want to have sex with me."

I blinked a few times. He was serious about this. Thinking hard I began to try to formulate an answer. "I want to be connected to you," I finally ventured.

"Connected?"

"I want to be yours, and I want you to be mine."

"Why?"

I gritted my teeth. "Because I love you."

Edward laughed softly. "No, why do you want to be mine?"

I looked at the road in frustration. I had a feeling that Edward would not consider my earlier answer to be the correct answer.

"Do you want my protection?" Edward asked.

"Well, that does come in handy," I admitted.

"And do you want the protection of my family?"

"That, obviously, comes in handy as well."

"I don't mean whether we are good fighters and can save you from armies of newborn vampires, though you clearly require that level of protection as well. I mean, do you trust that I and my family will watch over you?"

"Yes."

"And you trust that we have your best interests at heart?"

"Yes."

"Combine this with a basic physical attraction designed around selecting worthwhile genetic quality for your offspring and you have the basic parameters of the human female mating instinct."

It took me a moment to process that. "You make it sound so...selfish."

"No, Bella. It's survival. And it isn't nearly as selfish as the vampire mating instincts."

"And what would those be?" I asked, suddenly very curious.

"Normally it is a sudden and intense physical attraction, causing each person to become increasingly territorial and possessive of the other, resulting in a nearly inseparable bond."

I mulled this over. If Edward had these instincts his agreement to me spending time with Jake had actually been nothing short of heroic. I swallowed hard to stop the tears that threatened to overflow at the realization that I had also caused Edward an unbelievable amount of pain as well.

"Love doesn't necessarily have very much to do with it," Edward continued. "As you may have noticed with Victoria and James, theirs was merely a partnership of convenience and mutual beneficence."

"Victoria must have loved James though." She did go through an awful lot of trouble just to avenge him.

"In a way, I suppose she did. But she was more than willing to pretend she loved Riley to use him, just the way James used her."

"Is that...common?" I was very curious now. I had learned a lot about vampires recently that I hadn't known before and wondered how much more there was that I didn't know.

Edward shook his head. "It's common enough, especially among those who feed on humans and look out only for themselves. But I have met some nomadic mated pairs who do love each other. And because of the intensity of our emotions, their love is quite strong."

"But these nomads, they wouldn't bother getting married, would they?"

"No," Edward laughed. "That's mostly just my family, trying to hang onto the essential things of our humanity. Most vampires wouldn't think of stepping a foot in a church, obviously."

Essential, right. I still wasn't completely convinced of that, souls or no souls. "So if we were both nomadic vampires we would still be in the meadow right now?" I asked with a smirk.

I saw Edward shift in his seat uncomfortably. "No," he answered softly.

"No? Why not?"

Edward took a deep breath and looked at me. "Bella, if we were both nomadic vampires I would have mated you the very first time I took you to the meadow."

I gasped and gripped the steering wheel tightly, forcing myself to watch the road. Edward was being uncharacteristically candid about his desires today, and it was making my skin nearly tingle with lust.

"You would have?" My question came out more like a statement. He had been so open and sensual that day. If it were not for the fact that he was trying to resist my blood, and keep his morals, I could see how that day would have happened quite differently.

"Yes, Bella," Edward murmured, and I tried to control the way his statement made me tremble.

"I see," I said as evenly as I could, trying to stop the nervous fluttering in my stomach.

Edward's soft laughter beside me told me that I hadn't fooled him at all.

"So why are we going to announce our engagement to your family again? I thought they all know already," I said, desperate to change the subject.

"If you hadn't noticed, Bella, the possibility of us being married has been present for a while, but never very concrete. At least, not until now."

"True," I admitted. "When did Alice order that dress anyways?"

Edward was silent for a moment. "You remember what I just said about the first time I took you to our meadow?"

I nodded woodenly, my stomach fluttering again, and concentrated on pulling into the driveway.

"So why the formal announcement?" I was still confused why this meant so much to him.

Edward looked out the passenger window. "It's another thing about how I was raised. I'm sorry if it seems to be hassle to you."

"No, it's fine, I'm just curious," I assured him, racking my brain for knowledge of turn of the century engagement etiquette and coming up empty.

"In my time an engagement between a proper man and lady would be announced at a formal dinner," Edward explained hesitantly, causing me to bring up my image of me in an old-fashioned dress sitting in a formal dining room. "Obviously, we can't really do the dinnertime part," I suppressed a giggle at my image of that formal dining room being filled with dead deer, bears, and mountain lions, "but we can at least make the formal announcement to my family."

"Right," I said, nodding enthusiastically, trying to dislodge the picture my vivid imagination had produced.

"My family is waiting for us," Edward announced as I pulled up in front of the house.

"Are they?" I felt nervous flutterings in my stomach again, but these didn't feel as nice as the one's before.

"Right now Alice is screaming at me to take you inside already."

"Is she?"

"Yes, shall we?" Edward asked.

I nodded, suddenly very nervous. It was silly of me to wonder whether or not Edward's family would accept the engagement. They had already made it clear that I was family the night I put my mortality to a vote, even Rosalie had called me her sister. And they had just fought off an army of newborns to protect me. But marriage? It was so much more than just being family.

Edward opened my door and raised my hand to his lips, kissing the knuckle below the ring. "I love you, Bella."

"I know."

Edward smiled at my simple answer and escorted me inside where everyone was gathered. Edward stopped and looked at me. I swallowed hard and nodded. It was best if he spoke, once again I didn't think I could be coherent.

"I have asked Bella to be my wife, and she has accepted my proposal," Edward announced formally.

I nodded my agreement and could feel my face flush slightly. I was happy that the particulars behind that rather straightforward statement remained unsaid. I unglued my left hand from my side and held it in front of me so that Elizabeth Masen's ring was visible.

I heard Esme's gasp of joy only a moment before I was buried in her arms. "Thank you, Bella," she whispered.

I nodded slightly. I was the one wearing the rocks given to me by Adonis himself, I wasn't sure why I was the recipient of Esme's gratitude.

"And you," Esme said, pulling Edward into a tight hug, "congratulations."

"Thank you," Edward said.

Esme pulled back to put a hand on each of Edward's shoulders. "And here I was so worried that I would never see this day, but here you are," Esme said, smiling at me.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Yes, so can you please stop worrying now?"

"Never," Esme vowed. She turned to me again. "Can I see?" she asked.

I placed my left hand in hers. Esme looked at the ring for a long moment. "That's quite a ring Edward put there."

"I know," I agreed rather grumpily.

Esme looked up at me. "But you're worth every one of those diamonds, don't forget that, Bella."

I felt my face flush again as I nodded.

"May I?" Carlisle asked.

Esme placed my hand in Carlisle's cool one. He looked at the ring thoughtfully for a minute and then looked up at Edward. I could tell Carlisle was saying something to Edward, and from the mix of emotions I saw on Edward's face it was more than a simple congratulations.

Carlisle then turned to look at me. "It's beautiful."

"It is," I answered in a small voice. Just like the night when I put my mortality to a vote I realized that Carlisle's approval was important.

Carlisle stepped closer and leaned in to give me a gentle hug. I put my arms around his waist and returned his embrace as tightly as I could. My respect for Carlisle was limitless, he was like a safe rock I could put my anchor on and know that I would never lose my way.

"Bella," Carlisle said, stepping back a little so he could look down at me. "That you want to be my daughter is something very precious. But that you want to be my daughter-in-law is something I cherish even more. Thank you."

I nodded and gave him another quick hug. "You're welcome," I murmured, stepping back as I felt my cheeks flush.

"When?" Carlisle asked, looking between me and Edward.

I realized he was trying to determine how this would change our previous plans about my change. "Soon. August thirteenth," I announced. "I want Charlie and Renee to be there, so– "

Alice's squeal cut me off. "Oh, Bella, Bella, Bella," she chanted as she danced over. "It will be so beautiful and lovely, you'll see. I'm so glad you finally decided this is what you want. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Nothing crazy," I insisted as I stumbled back a half step from the force of Alice throwing her arms around me.

Alice stepped back and frowned. "You should trust me, Bella. When I say it will be beautiful and lovely it's only because I know it will be beautiful and lovely. Aren't I right, Edward?'

"Yes," Edward agreed, pulling me close to place a kiss on the top of my head. "Thank you, Bella," he whispered, his voice full of emotion.

That answered that question. Edward did want a romantic and traditional wedding. And I nearly let him take me to Vegas to be married by Elvis in old sweats.

"Congratulations," Jasper said, stepping behind Alice. I felt a slight sensation of happiness come over me and I knew it was Jasper's way of expressing himself without physical contact.

I gave him a grateful smile to show that I understood. "Thank you, Jasper."

"So, you're actually going to tell everyone that you're going to marry into our crazy little family? That takes some guts there, little girl." Emmett said, coming to stand in front of me, very close in front of me.

I tipped my head back so I could look up at him. "I know, especially with you hanging around all the time."

"So, you love Edward enough to marry him, even though you still think I'm super scary?" Emmett clarified, flashing his teeth.

"Yes, even though Edward's family is full of super scary monsters, I'm still going to marry him," I confirmed.

Emmett's smile grew even larger. "I'm so glad to hear that." I suddenly found my nose pressed against Emmett's rock solid chest as he wrapped me in a hug and I had to fight to stay calm. I knew Emmett didn't want to hurt me, but he was still huge, and just a bit scary.

Emmett released me as Jasper and Edward pushed him back. "Hey, just trying to give my little sis a hug here," Emmett protested. "You're okay there, Bella, right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, taking a deep breath. I seemed to be in one piece.

"See, I didn't hurt her," Emmett said, looking at Edward. "Though I still can't see how you can kiss her. I mean, wow–" Emmett trailed off when Edward growled. "Hey, just saying. And congratulations, you finally found yourself a wife, that's fantastic." Emmett looked around Edward to look at me. "Really, Bella, thank you."

"Sure, Emmett, anytime."

"Congratulations, Bella," Rosalie said, coming over and putting her hands on my shoulders. "You know what I think about, well," I nodded as Rosalie paused. "But I think it's great that you're getting married now when your parents can see it. This life is too long to live with regrets."

I nodded seriously. I was getting the white wedding in front of my family that Rosalie could never have. I didn't care about that nearly as much as she did, but I appreciated her support.

"And congratulations, Edward," Rosalie added.

Edward didn't respond and Rosalie looked down at the ground and twitched slightly. It was an unexpected action from someone as cool and collected as Rosalie, and it occurred to me that she was nervous.

Edward took a small step forward. "Rosalie," he said softly.

Rosalie shuffled her feet and then threw her arms around Edward's waist, hugging him tightly. I was surprised to find that I did not feel any jealousy, not even when Edward put his hands on her back and hugged her in return. Their beauty matched, but it was obvious that what they shared was nothing like the relationship between me and Edward.

"Thank you," I barely heard Edward murmur as Rosalie stepped back.

"Hey, do you realize what this means?" Emmett asked as he draped his arm over Rosalie's shoulders. "It means that Bella's actually going to become a Cullen mostly legally." Emmett looked at me excitedly. "You can have a mostly legal marriage license, isn't that great?"

"I'm still getting you a full set of forged documents, Bella," Jasper said. "But you can use your own legal documents with Edward's forgeries to get an actual marriage license if you want."

I almost shrugged. It didn't matter to me if my marriage certificate was actually legal in the State of Washington or not. I then looked at Edward and nodded. "We'll go to the clerk in Port Angeles and get a real marriage license." Edward's smile confirmed that he was pleased with my decision.

"You have already told Charlie?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes, he gave his blessing," Edward answered with a proud smile.

"Yes, and he didn't even try to shoot Edward," I added.

Emmett laughed. "Even if he did you don't have to worry, Bella. Edward here is faster than a speeding bullet."

I shook my head. "I'm sure that would have explained everything to Charlie just perfectly. Right after I convinced him that I'm Lois Lane."

Emmett laughed harder. "I'm so glad you've decided to stick around with us for a while, Bella. You're so much fun."

"I'm not getting married to Edward for your amusement," I told him. I definitely needed to set some ground rules with Emmett, starting immediately.

"Right. You're getting married to Edward because you love him, of course." Emmett's response was more sarcastic than I would have liked.

"Right," I said forcefully.

"Pay no attention to Emmett," Jasper instructed me. "We all know how much you love Edward."

I gave Jasper a grateful smile. It was always good to have an empath back you up on your feelings.

"If you don't mind, Bella, I'm going to help Alice with planning the wedding," Esme said. "I realize that traditionally the bride's family does that, so if your mother wants to be involved just have her call me."

I nodded gratefully, I could trust Esme. But I could feel my stomach turn over. I still needed to tell Renee, and I didn't think I could have Edward bail me out on that one. "I'm going to call her tomorrow, it's too late now, but I'll give her your number."

Esme's forehead furrowed and her chin quivered and I realized that she was crying. "Esme-."

"I'm sorry, I'm just so happy," Esme said, throwing her arms around me again and kissing my forehead. "Thank you, Bella."

With that I spent the next hour trying to ignore Alice's attempts to show me pictures in enormous and glossy wedding magazines while Esme and I discussed some practical details. After deciding that the wedding would take place in the living room and that we would ask Pastor Weber to officiate, there was another round of hugs before Edward and I escaped to my truck.

"Well that was interesting," I commented as I maneuvered my truck down the driveway.

"Yes. I don't know if you noticed, but they were all very happy."

"I did, in fact, notice that." It was impossible to miss.

Edward nodded. "Thank you, Bella."

I slapped my hands on the steering wheel in frustration. "If someone says that one more time I'm going to scream. I didn't even get this much gratitude when I brought you back from Italy. Why is everyone thanking me? You're the one who was so insistent about getting married."

Edward frowned. "Yes, but you agreed. Hence, thank you."

I looked down at the ring on my finger. "So Alice's vision was that good?"

"Beautiful and lovely, yes. But only because you want it as well."

"Good." I still wasn't sure if I could trust Alice, but if what she saw was something Edward liked I would try to go along with it.

I tried to fight my nosiness but it got the better of me. "Rosalie and Carlisle had interesting reactions."

Edward was silent and I tried to backtrack. "I don't mean to pry, but sometimes I feel kind of left out when people talk to you in their head."

"No, it's fine, Bella. But I'm not exactly sure how to explain what they told me in words."

"That's alright, it doesn't matter," I said, trying to convince myself of that.

"You know that Rosalie was meant for me, and that she was upset that I refused her?" Edward asked slowly.

I nodded. I still found it unbelievable that for some reason Edward thought I was better than Rosalie.

"She is genuinely happy for me now, for us. She always took my rejection personally, but she loves me enough to see that you are what makes me happy, so she is willing to let go of her wounded pride and accept the fact that I have chosen you instead."

"I see." Rosalie's logic didn't always make very much sense to me, and this was one of those times. But since she had apparently accepted that Edward wanted to marry me it would definitely make the wedding easier.

"And Carlisle, he-" Edward paused, looking out the window for a minute. "He remembered my mother, wearing that ring the day she died. Even though my father was already dead she kept wearing it. If she had recovered and lived another fifty years she would have never taken it off."

I looked at the ring on my finger and gulped. It was one thing to promise that level of commitment, it was quite another to try to live up to it.

"He also thought about the day he gave it to me, when I was still trying to adjust to being a vampire. He told me that day that he hoped I would always remember my mother's love for me; that he hoped I would remember how to love; and that hopefully one day I would have someone special to share that love with."

The ring suddenly felt too heavy. Edward had waited so long, and struggled through so much just to come to find me worthy of that love. The weight of that truth overcame me.

"He's very happy that I am getting married to you."

"He is?" My voice sounded very small. My love for Edward was so straightforward when it was just the two of us. But I realized now that others had loved Edward for decades, and although my love for him was different from theirs, their love was just as strong. I didn't want to disappoint them.

"Esme has worried about me a lot over the years, but so has Carlisle, and the past year made him worry even more. He's happy that we've come to an agreement about our future together, something we can both be happy with."

"Understandable." Regardless of the convoluted way Edward and I figured out our present plan, at least it was a plan that made sense and promised very little life-threatening drama.

"He's actually very glad I found you, finally."

"Me too," I noted wryly.

"And he's glad we're getting married."

I glanced at Edward. "Don't tell me he's worried about our virtue as well?"

Edward laughed. "That's a small part of it. But mostly it was because of the same reasons you gave earlier today. Showing everyone our commitment to each other and doing things in order."

"Good thing I'm so responsible," I muttered.

Edward's eyes tightened. "I'm sorry if I was a bit forceful earlier today in the meadow. I thought it was what you wanted, and I want to give you what you want."

"It is what I want, and you still have to keep your side of the bargain," I said, giving him a pointed look. "But as much as I love you, I also love Charlie and Renee, and they deserve to know how much I love you. They deserve to see us happy."

"I want to tell them how much I love you as well," Edward added in a low voice.

"Do you think it will work? With Charlie, I mean."

"Your father is still uncertain about my commitment to you. But one of the thoughts in his head was that if we were married it would be harder for me to leave you again, yes."

I shook my head. Charlie's worry about us getting a divorce was so mundane it was nearly comical.

"But I want to stand before him and publicly promise myself to you," Edward continued. "Even though he won't completely understand, he deserves to know that I am bound to you."

"And I to you," was my soft response.

Edward was silent and when I looked at him his face was unreadable. "Pull over here before we get to your house," he said finally.

I nodded. Charlie didn't need to wonder why I brought Edward home without him having a car to leave. I pulled into a dark access road and turned off the truck. In the darkness I sensed more than saw Edward move closer to me on the bench seat.

"Bella," Edward's velvet voice whispered, "is it true what you said, the day after I took you to the meadow for the first time, that you want me forever?"

I turned towards him and put a hand on his cheek, tilting his head so I could look into his dark eyes. "Of course, that's why I'm marrying you."

Edward's fingers traced my jaw lightly. "Forever is a long time, Bella."

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. "I know Edward, and that's how long I want."

Edward remained silent as he continued to move his fingers down my neck. "What's wrong, Edward?" I whispered.

"It's more than I deserve, Bella," Edward finally said, ignoring my attempts to protest. "You give everything of yourself to me, and I'm not worthy of it."

I cut him off. "You are worth it, Edward. Your family, they weren't just happy for me, they were also happy for you. Because you deserve to be loved, and I love you. And that love is a part of who I am, and it's never going to change."

Edward pressed his forehead against mine. "Jacob Black can give you the things you deserve, the things I can't. I can't give you anything, Bella."

I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the tears to stay at bay. "I've made my choice, Edward."

"Have you?"

I took a deep breath and looked up into his eyes, burying my fingers in his hair. "Yes. I saw my future with him. I saw the love and happiness I could have with him. But I want to have that love and happiness with you more. And that's my decision."

Edward gave a sad laugh. "You want to become a vampire to have love and happiness. Bella, sometimes your logic is completely backwards."

"With you," I insisted. "Love and happiness with you. Forever. You can give me that."

Edward pulled away and looked out the window at the gathering dusk. "Bella, forever is not a blessing. Rosalie is right about that, this life is a curse. And that is all I can give you."

I shook my head. "We'll be together. That is all that matters to me."

I saw Edward sigh deeply and I put my arms around him, resting my head on his shoulder. "I can't live without you, Edward. I know that. And I know that you can't live without me either. So we'll live together, loving each other. That is a blessing, not a curse. That's what you can give me."

Edward turned and put his arms around me, letting my head rest on his chest. "I still feel so selfish."

"No, Edward."

"No, I am selfish," Edward insisted. "Taking away your humanity in order to take you as a mate so that I can assuage this burning need inside me to posses you forever. I don't want that to be who I am, Bella."

"You're not selfish," I countered. "You love me. And the _need_ that is a part of love, it's not selfish. We need to be together. So we'll both make sacrifices to make that happen. That's love."

I felt Edward kiss the top of my head as his arms tightened around me. "I will be your husband, Bella. And I will be with you, no matter what."

"That's all I ask," I said, lifting my head.

Edward's lips came down to meet mine, his kiss both reverent and needy. My choice was made and I would see it through, even if it took me forever.

* * *

**A/N: **My novella _Impromptus_ is nominated in the Indie Twific Awards in the category of "Best Use of a Parent"! The Indies list is a great place to find great fics you have probably never heard of before. Please go to www DOT theindietwificawards DOT com to see all the entries and cast your vote!


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